In an attempt by the ISU Foundation to foster new ideas, two upper-management employees have begun their tenure.

Dan Saftig, formerly of Minnesota Medical Foundations, took over as president and CEO of the ISU Foundation Tuesday.

Saftig has been raising money for 21 years in various capacities, said Ann Wilson, director of communications for the Foundation.

Saftig received his bachelor’s degrees in mass communication and political science from the University of Wisconsin, Wilson said, and a master’s in non-profit administration from the University of San Francisco.

The ISU Foundation has been without a president for a year, with Peg Armstrong-Gustafson serving as interim president the last year, Wilson said.

Most people ask why there was no promotion from within the foundation, Wilson said.

There is a simple explanation for this, she said — no one applied internally.

However, there were several qualified employees, Wilson said.

Stephanie Ellett also started Tuesday as the assistant director for annual giving.

Elizabeth Biittner, senior in advertising and supervisor at the foundation’s call center, said Ellett teamed up with the ISU Foundation while in school at the University of Iowa, when Iowa State, University of Iowa and Kansas University got together on some big projects in the past.

She said she is excited to see what Ellet will bring to the call center.

“Stephanie is great. She is going to do wonders for our program,” Biittner said. “[But] we’d kid around with her because she used to be a Hawkeye.”

Mixed loyalties aside, Ellett was the best candidate for the job, Wilson said.

“There was an empty position, and she was the best person to jump into it,” Wilson said.